Beer Braised Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Honey Pineapple Barbecue Sauce

Beer Braised Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Honey Pineapple Barbecue Sauce is pork roast rubbed generously with a spice rub, braised in beer, and smothered in a tangy, sweet barbecue sauce.  Serve as a sandwich, or as a topping for sweet potatoes, nachos, or pizza!

You know you got a good workout when you’re abs are so sore that you can still barely lean up to get yourself out of bed 2 days later.  That’s what I experienced today after a killer TRX workout Sunday.  The instructor is part drill sergeant, and she really keeps us moving hard core the entire hour, so it’s cardio and strength training in one.  That’s what I call efficient, and it really makes me feel like I earned my supper when dinner rolls around. That’s a good thing, because dishes like this Beer Braised Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Honey Pineapple Barbecue Sauce is often on the menu on Sundays, and I enjoy it that much more knowing I earned it. 🙂

Yesterday I served you up some empty Honey Whole Wheat Burger Buns, so today it was important to follow up with something that you can actually sandwich between them. This pork is just the thing.  I’ve made this pork 3 times over the past few months, and it took everything I had to finally get a photo of it last time.  They do say the third time’s the charm. 😉  I’ve told you before that I struggle getting photos of main dishes, especially when company is coming.  I’m typically moving at frenetic pace getting last minute things done, so there isn’t much time to style and snap photos.  Well, I got smarter this time.  The first two times I cooked the pork roast in the oven because I didn’t have things planned out so I could start my slow cooker in the morning.  Needless to say, it wasn’t done early enough.  This time, however, I started it nice and early in the slow cooker and it was done in plenty of time — and it was even more tender, too.  Low and slow really is the way to go.  I finished snapping the pics just when our company arrived.  Ta-dah…dinner was served. 🙂

You can’t beat meals like this pulled pork because it’s so easy, it feeds a crowd, and everyone always loves it.  Who doesn’t like super tender pulled pork smothered in a tangy, sweet barbecue sauce?  It’s the best kind of make ahead meal.  Just rub the roast generously the night before with a spice rub, then the next morning pop it in the slow cooker and pour a beer over it.  Drunken pork, so to speak. :).  In my experience, pork roasts get the most tender when they’re cooked a minimum of 8 hours on low, and possibly even 10 hours so it’s falling apart.  You won’t even have to use a fork to shred it.

While your pork is cooking away, you’ll have some free time to make the homemade honey pineapple barbecue sauce, which really upped the ante here.  Make enough, and you’ll have some left in the fridge for the next go-round, too.  I kept the pineapple theme going and made a coleslaw with fresh pineapple, and was that ever good.  You’ll also have enough time to make your homemade buns, which I strongly urge you to do…or if you’re really on the ball you’ll have some in the freezer to pull out for a quick fix.  I have to note here that the buns in this photo are the first batch of buns that I made, and I didn’t use an egg wash so there was a lot of uneven browning.  Learn from my mistake…if ya want nice, golden brown buns, use an egg wash like I did for the second batch!

This pork also makes a great topping for sweet potatoes, nachos, or even pizza.  You can get crazy with this stuff because it’s good almost anywhere.  It may be grilling season, but we all need meals that we can pop in the slow cooker and forget about while we enjoy our day.  This is just the thing. 🙂

Beer Braised Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Honey Pineapple Barbecue Sauce

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Total time

10 hours 30 mins

 

Beer Braised Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Honey Pineapple Barbecue Sauce is pork roast rubbed generously with a spice rub, braised in beer, and smothered in a tangy, sweet barbecue sauce. Serve as a sandwich, or as a topping for sweet potatoes, nachos, or pizza!

Serves: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

For the pork:

• 3 - 3½ lb. pork shoulder (butt)
• 1½ tablespoons sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1 (12 fl. ounce) bottle pale ale, or the beer of your choice

For the barbecue sauce:

• 1 cup ketchup
• ½ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh or canned pineapple juice
• 1½ tablespoons white vinegar
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground mustard
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• dash of liquid smoke

Instructions

Prepare the pork:

1. In a small bowl, combine the sea salt, black pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, coriander, onion powder, garlic powder, and ground mustard. Generously rub the pork roast, cover, and refrigerate over night. The next morning, place the pork roast in your slow cooker, and pour the beer over it. Cover and cook at low heat for 8-10 hours or until very tender.

Prepare the barbecue sauce:

1. Place the ketchup, honey, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, pineapple juice, white vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, ground mustard and cayenne in a small sauce pan and heat over medium low heat until it comes to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
2. When the pork is tender, shred with two forks and place in a large bowl. Add enough barbecue sauce to coat. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Barbecue sauce will keep in the fridge tightly sealed for up to 2 weeks.

For best results, don't cook the pork roast at high temperature for a shorter period of time as it may not be as tender. Low and slow is the way to go.

Recipe by Flavor the Moments.

3.5.3226